Banning The New Travel Ban

Protest continue with the proposal of a new travel ban. Photo courtesy: Ted Eytan (Flickr)

Protest continue with the proposal of a new travel ban. Photo courtesy: Ted Eytan (Flickr)

Facing insurmountable odds, President Donald Trump has proven many of his naysayers wrong, but he is learning the hard way that winning the election is only part of the battle that comes with leading the United States.

In January, he created and enforced a controversial travel ban which provoked a firestorm of confusion and anger. The Trump Administration deserved all that backlash because of how lazily-executed and poorly-explained the whole directive was.

The counterproductive nature of the plan designed to prevent massive chaos ended up inciting massive chaos all across the country. When the ban was struck down in court, many wondered whether or not Trump would really attempt to pursue a revival of his controversial directive.

Given how Trump’s persistence ultimately led him to the White House, it was no surprise to see that the president decided to keep fighting for the travel ban.

Going back to the drawing board, Trump came up with a revised travel plan, which was somewhat more lenient than its predecessor. Removing Iraq from the list of banned countries and exempting green card holders from the ban served as a means of trying to reach some sort of compromise with opponents of the entire directive. Yet, this revised directive has also been held up in court under the target of lawsuits.

Given that Trump’s second take on a travel ban has been met with the same legal battles, there is a considerable possibility that Trump may have to go back to the drawing board yet again.

While a president’s executive order does not need to appease both sides of the spectrum, opponents of the travel ban will go out of their way to make things as difficult for Trump as possible. Whether it is through organized protests or legal matters, Trump’s opponents are not going to give up their fight due to the fact that his executive order must be enforced.

Not helping matters is that, within the last two weeks, the Trump Administration has endured a variety of embarrassing scenarios completely of their own making. From Ben Carson’s head-spinningly stupid comparison of “immigrants” and “slaves” to the uncovering of more dishonesty regarding Trump affiliates being in talks with Russia, it is simply not a fun time to be even associated with the administration of the 45th president.

The fact that Trump finds his revised directive being met with a legal battle piles on to the embarrassment that America’s new leader must be feeling deep down.

Trump’s ego has been his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. While that ego has constantly landed him in hot water, it has also led to him solidifying himself in the annals of history regarding business, entertainment and politics.

His ego is what will likely drive him to combat his opponents and make no further compromises regarding his travel ban order. Yet, given all of the trouble that this travel ban has caused, one must wonder, is it really worth the fight that Trump is putting up?

Trump has way too many issues on his plate right now to continue to revise travel ban after travel ban. Trump needs to take a step back and decide what is truly important to the American people at this time.

There is way too much heat on Trump and his administration for them to try and pull off a juggling act on a high wire with a wax candle on their nose. Instead of desperately rushing to simply get things done, Trump should pull back on the travel ban directive and take a serious amount of time to come up with a more productive plan.